Why I left Islam, an analysis

mikeghouseJanuary 13, 2019January 13, 2019Comments Off on Why I left Islam, an analysis

Why I left Islam

The following story is about a guy who left Islam. I can fully understand him, I had left Islam and had remained an Atheist for nearly thirty years. I am glad I did, as it gave me a chance to learn Islam first hand, rejected all that was dished out to me and studied it critically. Indeed, I invited criticism of the Quran, the Prophet, and Islam, and the public flooded me with it. I said to myself, if I find answers for these, I will choose Islam if not, I will stay out of it.

What I have is a strong appreciation for Islam, the Quran, and the Prophet along with all other faiths. I don’t want to call it religion, as it connotates blind belief. I may want to say, I like the logic and wisdom of Islam and have chosen to subscribe to it. Since 1998-99, I have made a habit of taking up the challenges from anyone.

Several Islamophobes could not argue with reason and logic and walked away from the discussions. I threw that challenge to Pastor Robert Jeffress, “If you find three faults with Quran and we agree in the public, I will join you.” He backed off seeing my confidence, mind you, it is confidence based on study and not faith.

One of the religious scholars and a Hafiz-e-Quran (someone who has memorized Quran) called on me and said, “why did you make such a stupid statement, what if he finds the faults?” I laughed at him, for he did not believe in the Quran, he was skeptical. I wonder about folks who live their entire lives in doubts and not make any effort to clarify them. It is good to have a strong fact rather than faith.

To be truthful (to oneself) is one of the most important values of all religions, and most certainly a central value of Islam. In seeking the truth, it is perfectly all right to disbelieve in things you are not comfortable with. Mother Teresa has had doubts about God and its existence; we can have it too.

I am firmly grounded in Islam, Islam is not a belief to me, it is a practical system that works in creating cohesive societies where all of God’s creation can live their lives with confidence.

A full chapter is in the book about Fixing Sharia, info about the book at www.AmericanMuslimAgenda.com

At the end of the video pops another video, “Why I left Islam,” and I was curious to know his reasons. The reasons he gave were very familiar to me – touted by the Islamaphobes, that is men and women who have baseless fear of Islam.

Thank God, American Muslims are waking up to the problems created by medieval scholars. It is their books and which inspired them to dish out mistranslations of Quran with impunity.

Muslims have made serious mistakes in putting some of the medieval Muslim scholars on high pedestals. Once we learn to say the Quran is the right book and all other books are innovations, subject to verification, we cannot go wrong.

Ibn Kathir, Ibn Tamiya, Ibn Hisham, Imam Ghazali, Banna, Maududi, and others have done much research on Islam, but they have also injected drops of poison here and there. The men and women you hate as Islamophobes are not cooking things up, whatever the ugly stuff they quote are coming from these books. I have dealt with almost all of the Islamophobes through Fox TV.

Imam Mohamed Magid of Adams Center was critical of me for calling on the above men, but thanks to him, he later acknowledged that Yusuf Hamza had penned a similar article to mine – the sources of extremism in Islam.

So, this guy in the video makes the same mistake – and walks out of Islam because of what he read. He accuses the prophet of allowing his associates to have sex with slave girls won in the battles, even if they were married. Guess who said that? It is Mr. Ibn Kathir. The ISIS terrorist Abubakr Baghdadi felt entitled to rape Yazidi, Shia and Christian women, guess whom he quoted? Ibn Hisham! It is there in the Seerah (biography). What do Muslims say if you have to learn about the Prophet? They say read Ibh Hisham’s Seerah! What a mistake! I would say read Karen Armstrong’s book on Muhammad. You can relate with him as a human, which he was.

These men have harmed Islam more than anyone else can. If we replace our secondary books, then Pamela Geller, Robert Spencer, Brigitte Gabrielle, and their likes will have no source to quote bad things about Islam. It is as simple as that. The mistake we made was not studying their interpretations and giving their books the status of Quran.

So, this guy quotes verse 4:24 and I checked up on that. It is not what he has read in the wrong translations based on Ibn Kathir’s exegesis.

DARE TO SEE THIS VIDEO

Don’t shy away from watching this video and then seeing what the actual Quran says; we cannot run away from criticism. This guy went with wrong translations, thank God, I can see through it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR7_YQ53lfI

4:24 (Asad) And [forbidden to you are] all married women other than those whom you rightfully possess [through wedlock]: [26] this is God’s ordinance, binding upon you. However, lawful to you are all [women] beyond these, for you to seek out, offering them of your possessions, taking them in honest wedlock, and not in fornication. Moreover, unto those with whom you desire to enjoy marriage, you shall give the dowers due to them; but you will incur no sin if, after [having agreed upon] this lawful due, you freely agree with one another upon anything [else]: behold, God is indeed all-knowing, wise.

The following explanation by Asad is worth thinking.

(26) The term muhsanah signifies literally “a woman who is fortified [against unchastity],” and carries three senses: (1) “a married woman,” (2) “a chaste woman,” and (3) “a free woman.” According to almost all the authorities, al-muhsanat denotes in the above context “married women.” As for the expression ma malakat aymanukum (“those whom your right hands possess,” i.e., “those whom you rightfully possess”), it is often taken to mean female slaves captured in a war in God’s cause (see in this connection 8:67, and the corresponding note).

The commentators who choose this meaning hold that such slave-girls can be taken in marriage irrespective of whether they have husbands in the country of their origin or not. However, quite apart from the fundamental differences of opinion, even among the Companions of the Prophet, regarding the legality of such a marriage, some of the most outstanding commentators hold the view that ma malakat aymanukum denotes here “women whom you rightfully possess through wedlock.” Thus Razi in his commentary on this verse, and Tabari in one of his alternative explanations (going back to ‘Abd Allah ibn ‘Abbas, Mujahid, and others). Razi, in particular, points out that the reference to “all married women” (al-muhsanat min an-nisa’), coming as it does after the enumeration of prohibited degrees of relationship, is meant to stress the prohibition of sexual relations with any woman other than one’s lawful wife. (Quran Ref: 4:24)

A whole lot more is there to chew in the upcoming book American Muslim Agenda. I hope the book will help Muslims and non-Muslims alike to start separating the chaff from the wheat and gain confidence in the Quran and Islam and remove the misunderstandings.

Dr. Mike Ghouse is committed to building a cohesive America and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day. His new book, the “American Muslim Agenda” guides Muslims and non-Muslims alike to mitigate conflicts and nurture goodwill. The book will be available at the end of January 2019 in all the bookstores. Mike is a public speaker, author, interfaith wedding officiant, and the executive director of the Center for Pluralism in Washington, DC. More about him at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikeghouse/